Your Car, Your Oil, And Your Warranty

[Marc]

First off, let me say that I don't agree with Ford's decision.

A car guy I know bought his 2010 Mustang GT to get a oil change at a local dealership. Turns out, the car was about 5 quarts low on oil, but no visible oil leak.

Car was then moved over to the warranty section to diagnose where the oil was going. Turns out it was bypasing the rings and oil was located all throughout the exhaust to the tail pipe.

Said individual wanted FORD to cover the warranty. Ford said no when they found out that he brought his own oil in for oil changes (and was documented in his service records). He was using Royal Purple. Ford said that it didn't meet the MSG # rating (whatever the hell that is) and denied his claim to fix the motor under warranty.

Again, I don't agree with the decision. I am just passing this on because I know a lot of guys use aftermarket oil in their GT500s and different model mustangs.

I have always stuck with the recommended factory motorcraft oil for reasons like this. And you really can't blame the dealership for not fixing it, it was FMC that made the decision.

 

[HISSMAN]

That is why I only run oil that meets or exceeds the specs for whatever engine I am servicing.

 

[50blackout]

You know what, there are A LOT of oils that meet Fords requirements and this is a Mustang Gt, so it just needs an approved 5w-20. Does Royal Purple not meet the requirement?

 

[HISSMAN]

You know what, there are A LOT of oils that meet Fords requirements and this is a Mustang Gt, so it just needs an approved 5w-20. Does Royal Purple not meet the requirement?

No idea, I'm just going off of what the OP said the service dept. told him.

 

[Marc]

You know what, there are A LOT of oils that meet Fords requirements and this is a Mustang Gt, so it just needs an approved 5w-20. Does Royal Purple not meet the requirement?

Out of currosity, I went to the Royal Purple sight and did not see a 5w-20...but, I could of missed it.

But, I do know a lot of folks here were using AMSOIL (different weight) prior to Amsoil coming out with the 5w20. Again, I don't agree with the decision, so don't shoot the messenger...I am just passing on this individual's story.

 

[Dynobrat]

Your car, your oil, THE warranty. It spells it out for you in the owners manual. So you believe an engine should be replaced due to neglect, abuse, and using an oil that doesn't meet Ford specs but ignore the manufacturers recommendations because you "think" it's a superior oil?

How can you disagree? If you ignore what is told to you where is your arguement?

If an engine is not one or two but five quarts low, that means nobody checked the oil and it was also pushed very very hard.

So whether or not you agree is somewhat irrelevant. It's business. You can't just do whatever you want to a car while it's under warranty and cry fowl when you didn't do what you were told to from the beginning. You have a responsibility to Ford to do the right thing. Did he do the right thing? Obviously not.

I would also bet had the car been treated properly with this oil, he probably would not have ended up in that predicament. There is more to caring for an engine than using superior and or recommended oil.

It just winds up to another expensive life lesson. Play by the rules you will win the game. Write your own rules and you will be caught cheating.

You have a responsibility to use fluids that meet Fords spec and if unsure you research or ask. Crying that it's unfair is a bit unbelievable, really.

 

[C0bra99]

I found the API-Licensed Motor Oil 5w20 from Royal Purple
5-Gal. Pail 05520
3x5-Qt. Case 53520
5-Qt. Bottle* 51520
6x1-Qt. Case 06520
1-Qt. Bottle* 01520

From the Royal Purple spec sheet
5 5W-20 and 5W-30 meets Chrysler MS-6395T, Ford WSS-M2C945-A
and GM6094M specification.



From the manual

To protect your engine and engine’s warranty, use Motorcraft SAE
5W-20 or an equivalent SAE 5W-20 oil meeting Ford specification
WSS-M2C930-A. SAE 5W-20 oil provides optimum fuel economy and
durability performance meeting all requirements for your
vehicle’s engine.

•Motorcraft SAE 5W-20
Premium Synthetic
Blend Motor Oil (US)
•Motorcraft SAE 5W-20
Full Synthetic Motor Oil
(US)
•Motorcraft SAE 5W-20
Super Premium Motor
Oil (Canada)
•Motorcraft SAE 5W-20
Synthetic Motor Oil
(Canada)6
•XO-5W20-QSP (US)
•XO-5W20-QFS (US)
•CXO-5W20-LSP12
(Canada)
•CXO-5W20-LFS12
(Canada) /
WSS-M2C930-A with API
Certification Mark

Does this mean it doesn't meet spec?

 

[HISSMAN]

Pretty much.

 

[H-TownMachI]

I do my own oil changes with MC 5-50. They would probably deny my warranty also.

 

[NightRide]

Ford has I way of finding ways to deny warranty work even if all service is performed there. I've got many horror stories of service work they've done, haven't been to one dealer I would let work on my car. Almost crashed my cars front splitter on the front pulling up to a curb as I watched in the waiting area. It bent upward onto the curb instead of down cracking it and the bumper thankfully. Only reason I even went back is the first oil change was free and boy was that an experience. Another time didn't even put the fill cap back on in my f150, I believe it's much safer having me change my own oil. If she let's go the last place I want to go is a ford dealer.

 

[BigBlueOval]

Your car, your oil, THE warranty. It spells it out for you in the owners manual. So you believe an engine should be replaced due to neglect, abuse, and using an oil that doesn't meet Ford specs but ignore the manufacturers recommendations because you "think" it's a superior oil?

How can you disagree? If you ignore what is told to you where is your arguement?

If an engine is not one or two but five quarts low, that means nobody checked the oil and it was also pushed very very hard.

So whether or not you agree is somewhat irrelevant. It's business. You can't just do whatever you want to a car while it's under warranty and cry fowl when you didn't do what you were told to from the beginning. You have a responsibility to Ford to do the right thing. Did he do the right thing? Obviously not.

I would also bet had the car been treated properly with this oil, he probably would not have ended up in that predicament. There is more to caring for an engine than using superior and or recommended oil.

It just winds up to another expensive life lesson. Play by the rules you will win the game. Write your own rules and you will be caught cheating.

You have a responsibility to use fluids that meet Fords spec and if unsure you research or ask. Crying that it's unfair is a bit unbelievable, really.

+1000
Im sure theres more to this story than the OP knows/is telling. My educated guess is if the warranty is being denied, its due to the lack of oil in the engine and or other issues.

 

[Dynobrat]

The fact is though, warranty aside he should have had no problems buying the cheapest off the shelf 5w20 he could find and have no problems. I'm placing blame on the owner and neglect/misuse. Any engine will fail if its repeatedly subjected to excessive abuse, cold start high rev situations.

and typically you never hear someone say oh well I was beating the piss out of it every chance I could get and it finally had enough. Usually it's I went to get groceries two days after my open heart surgery and I don't know what happened she just up and gone kaboom.

I'm sure Ford has seen and heard it all. I agree they will try and prove owner responsibility first - but they have to. You would go out of business fast if you took the lies you were told as the gospel truth. Can't say I blame them. I just read a few days ago someone on here posted taking a strong magnet to a pcm so the dealer couldn't read it. These are the types of people they deal with. Because it scares people to think they might have to pay for their own mistakes.

 

[phil123]

I have read the threads that say there are motor oils that are much better than Ford's and I don't know enough to say if that is true or not. I don't understand the logic of using one of those if they don't meet Ford specs while the car is under warranty. Why would you give Ford a justifiable excuse to deny your warranty in the event of an expensive repair? Using Ford oil isn't going to ruin your engine. If you want to make that choice fine but I don't think there is much room to complain if warranty is denied. To those that say that Ford will deny warranty no matter what I don't agree. I just had a clutch replaced under warranty on my Shelby with 25,000 miles on it, no problem. There are certainly dealers I wouldn't bring my car to but that doesn't mean there aren't any reputable dealers.

 

[Dynobrat]

I just last week had a lighting control module replaced under warranty for a 2003 Crown Vic. Ford does look after its customers. That's a 13 year old car. Warranty long gone. But they replaced it and installed it and never charged me a dime. I do like Ford!!

 

[HISSMAN]

Was it a recall item?

 

[Dynobrat]

No it was an extended warranty on the part itself. It was hard to believe.

 

[Snoopy49]

It appears that Ford changed the spec in late 2011 from WSS-M2C930-A to WSS-M2C945-A.
Ford Current 5w-20 spec?

 

[BigBlueOval]

Ford and your local dealers are not out to deny warranties for any little reason, there is usually undisputable abuse or missuse when a claim is even questioned. MT 82s for example are breaking the 1-2 shift stop due to customers obvious banging gears but there we are pulling trans after trans at Henrys expense. (hecho in china)
But use some common sense. Bring in a 4.6 with 2 qts of oil in it at the end or possibly after the powertrain warranty has expired and expect Ford to pay for it? Does the customer understand how the rings receive their lubrication?

 

[ryan319]

Ford has I way of finding ways to deny warranty work even if all service is performed there. I've got many horror stories of service work they've done, haven't been to one dealer I would let work on my car. Almost crashed my cars front splitter on the front pulling up to a curb as I watched in the waiting area. It bent upward onto the curb instead of down cracking it and the bumper thankfully. Only reason I even went back is the first oil change was free and boy was that an experience. Another time didn't even put the fill cap back on in my f150, I believe it's much safer having me change my own oil. If she let's go the last place I want to go is a ford dealer.

Ford's not the only manufacturer that does this. In general I avoid the dealer repair shop if at all possible. I have free lifetime state inspections and I chose to go to a little hot rod shop that does inspections and pay out of pocket. Even the "free" oil changes aren't worth it because you either need to make an appointment and drop it off or wait 1.5+ hours for it. I'd rather just do it myself, save my receipts and document when it was done. It's better than letting some jabroni tech at the dealer get his hands on my cars. They just don't treat cars like I like to treat my cars. I always have an uneasy feeling in my stomach when I see someone else driving my vehicle.

 

[NightRide]

Ford's not the only manufacturer that does this. In general I avoid the dealer repair shop if at all possible. I have free lifetime state inspections and I chose to go to a little hot rod shop that does inspections and pay out of pocket. Even the "free" oil changes aren't worth it because you either need to make an appointment and drop it off or wait 1.5+ hours for it. I'd rather just do it myself, save my receipts and document when it was done. It's better than letting some jabroni tech at the dealer get his hands on my cars. They just don't treat cars like I like to treat my cars. I always have an uneasy feeling in my stomach when I see someone else driving my vehicle.

I completely agree and I've been to many dealers, wouldn't let them work on my daughter's bicycle let alone my car. Not saying everyone of them is bad it just seems like the majority are. You do hear that miracle story every once in a while like the guy with the 25k clutch replacement.